Excerpt, Memoirs of K. Yildirim, Mission Commander, Expedition of the First Thousand

I think back to what happened, how it changed the way in which we view the ultimate result of the expedition. I don't think we will ever know why the event was such a surprise, given the extensive mapping operations for more than a century before we arrived.

As I reflect, whatever the results afterward, I am grateful to have experienced the event in its purest form, unmixed with any of the subsequent uncertainty and doubt that we have come to associate with this enterprise. This fledgling world needs its moments of hope as well as its reminders of the mysteries that we have yet to unlock as we traverse the cosmos.

I have reproduced my notes from the first landing, taken as the events were developing. Reading them over, I come to the conclusion that I would undertake this mission again, if I had the opportunity. I hope that this is as valuable a service to the reader as it was to me.

ETA New Shambhala 5 minutes 32 seconds: New Shambhala Head Administrator Natalya Volkova, present at the station with a skeleton crew of personnel for the past two years, appears on video feed, officially welcoming the First Thousand.

ETA New Shambhala 0 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds: Ship docks with New Shambhala. Assembled personnel engage in extended celebration. "To the Stars," a new anthem composed as part of a worldwide collaborative effort among the international musical community, is played over the ship's PA system.